NYC companies to increase tech talent hiring in 2021

According to a new survey from Accenture and Tech:NYC, 58 percent of C-suite participants report their organization is planning to increase the number of tech hires in 2021 as much as 20 percent above 2020. While most business leaders are confident their company will be able to secure the tech skill needed from the talent pool in New York City this year, respondents have indicated the city is losing tech talent to other markets, with the top ones being Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin.

To compound the importance of finding skilled tech talent, the survey – based on the responses of 300 C-suite executives based in New York City with at least US$1 billion or more in revenue – found that almost a third of respondents say the inability to hire the right people will affect their ability to innovate at the same pace. In order to meet the tech capability needs over the next year, 62 percent of respondents plan to hire new talent, 52 percent plan to reskill their current workforce, and 42 percent plan to recruit gig-economy or contract workers.

According to the survey, the top three technical areas that companies are looking to hire for in New York City are cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, and cloud expertise. However, a majority of respondents report that they expect to face difficulty hiring employees with Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum computing expertise. On a positive note, most business leaders are confident that hiring within the city can help diversify their workforce compared to hiring from other cities.

To help retain tech talent in New York City – the respondents identified three major steps that can be taken:

• Affordable housing: 52 percent of respondents indicate that New York City must provide more affordable housing
• Healthy workplace: 46 percent of respondents report that creating safer and healthier work environments for employees is crucial
• Inclusion and diversity: 44 percent of respondents believe companies must increase efforts around inclusion and diversity within the workplace

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, only 28 percent of local respondents report that their company allowed most of the employees to work remotely, and 12 percent of respondents state that their office allowed all employees to work remotely. In this current situation,13 percent of respondents indicate that their companies are allowing all employees to work remotely.

Even in a post-pandemic world, the remote work model seems to be here for good. Currently, 42 percent of respondents report that more than half of all their employees are working remotely. Additionally, nearly half of all respondents believe a remote workforce is sustainable for the long-term, and they expect their company will have a hybrid model when offices open safely—with a quarter of employees working from home.